BYU's Bronco Mendenhall’s words of wisdom for his team are Spirit, Honor and Tradition; certainly words to live by. But don’t look for them on the back of team jerseys. Cougar players want you to know them, and by name. Are they wrong?

“My point," he said, still tweeting, "is simply to identify that we’re going to be very consistent; this is what the program represents, and if anyone was wondering if we’re going away from that, just look at the back of the jerseys — your answer is right there,” the coach said before news of the jerseys hit the national fan base.

Wrubell, quoting Mendenhall, later tweeted for himself: “I haven’t told (players), or anyone else” about the change; "I haven’t addressed it yet be interesting to see what they think.”

Not much, as it turned out. Players and fans were taken by surprise at the announcement, and the reaction was as mixed as you would expect.

Former Cougar offensive lineman Terence Brown was one of the many in support of jersey status quo. Brown tweeted:

Spirit, Tradition, Honor on the back of jerseys instead of names. Come on. Bronco tried that a few years ago and the players voted NO

Uniform changes are hardly unheard of in the NCAA or in football in general. Vintage throwbacks are rampant, including BYU’s own return to royal blue for a game or two in the 2012 season. Several other programs, such as Air Force, made changes by wearing references to the B-2 and F-22 stealth planes, forgoing player names in their tussle against Navy just last year.

Kuresa, however, may have hit the nail on the head as far as team members' concerns. Players want recognition. They actually need their own personal marketing to make it to and through the draft. "Let's invite to our camp that guy, ol' what's-his-name from BYU.

Not gonna happen.

As an actor wants his name on the credits or an author wants the byline, players want to get credit, to stand out, especially — understandably — when the cameras roll. You can't blame them for trying to keep their name handy.

Coaches, on the other hand, live, breathe and preach unity and teamwork over individual performance. "There is no 'I' in team" they remind us. "If we get there, we will get there as a team," they say.

You can't blame a coach for trying, either. They have a job to do.

After a quick meeting with those involved, Mendenhall said on Twitter:

Talked to my team tonite. They want to wear tradition spirit honor on jerseys for homecoming only. Last names for rest of the year. PERFECT!

Popular Comments

Tradition- Try keeping up with the past tradition of winning.Spirit-
Actually boost your teams spirits and get them pumped for big games.Honor-
Honor/respect the

3:33 p.m. Aug. 13, 2013

Top comment

patriot

Cedar Hills, UT

I miss the days of LaVell Edwards when he recruited an offensive national power
year in and year out and recruited from both sides of the fence (Jim McMahon, Ty
Detmer, Robbie Bosco, ....). Both Ty and Robbie later joined the Church. The
team was
More..

3:33 p.m. Aug. 13, 2013

Top comment

morningbreaks

Aurora, CO

Chris B needs to get a life. That being said, I think the writer of this article
largely missed the point of why many players and fans wanted the players names
on the back of the jerseys.